Once Upon a Time Universe

The Once Upon a Time Universe, also known as the OUATverse,[1] is featured in ABC's Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. It comprehends all of the worlds, characters, items and locations featured in the shows, books, comics and other canon media.

Contents

Worlds

“

A real world. How arrogant are you to think yours is the only one? There are infinite more. You have to open your mind. They touch one another, pressing up in a long line of lands, each just as real as the last. All have their own rules. Some have magic, some don't.

The Once Upon a Time Universe is divided into many worlds. Some worlds are subsequently divided into realms. Some realms are divided furthermore into kingdoms, countries, or other equivalent territories.

"Alternate" Worlds

“

When I finished the book, I returned it to the Sorcerer's Mansion, and you know what I found? Hundreds of other books. With the stories I thought I knew, but told differently. Like, you know how there's a French Snow White, and an Italian one. There's endless possibilities.

Just as there may be different versions of a singular story, a singular world may have "parallel" or "alternate" worlds. These alternate worlds may share similar or exact traits, such as people or places.

Literary Versions of the "Real World"

“

The places I go... Well... They're a lot farther apart. I-I travel across realms. Realms of storytelling. [...] This place right here is one of them. It... It exists out of time. Tell me, what year is it? [...] We're not in a time. We're in a realm of story. There are many... Some beautiful, some horrific, and some just plain magical.

Land of Untold Stories

The Land of Untold Stories seems to be a place where people from other worlds go to prevent their stories from fully playing out. Lethal poisons, for example, temporarily stop advancing down the blood current, not reaching the heart.

World Behind the Mirror

The World Behind the Mirror is a realm where people can be trapped in by sending them through Enchanted Mirrors. There seems to be nothing in this world other than ruins, trees, rocks and mirrors that allow people to see through them, allowing them to spy through the mirrors of the different worlds, but they are one-way mirrors.

Worlds in Between

Some worlds cannot be reached physically. Instead, someone's soul can travel to these worlds while they are asleep, through different ways and because of different factors:

The Netherworld is divided into different rooms, each meant to be reached through different means. When inflicted with a Sleeping Curse, the soul goes to the Hall of Mirrors. When going back to the Netherworld after the first time, the soul will find itself in the Red Room, located beneath the Hall of Mirrors, regardless of this victim has already been awoken by True Love's kiss.

“

When people fall under a sleeping curse, the soul travels to a Netherworld, where it resides until awoken. Now, this world is between life and death, and it’s very real. However, even when the curse is broken, sometimes, in sleep, the victims find their way back to that world.

The Afterlife

In the Once Upon a Time Universe, there are different worlds where the souls of the deceased go to after their death.

Souls with unfinished business go to the Underworld, where they stay as long as it takes for them to solve them. Once they have dealt with their unfinished business, they can move on to a Better Place, known as Mount Olympus. However, they can also be sent to a Worse Place before they are able to complete their unfinished business.

↑Red's Untold Tale, 342: "...when I saw that it was just the gray cat, chasing spiders in the rafters, I exhaled with disappointment."

↑Knubbin has a crow in chapter Thirteen, Fifteen and Nineteen of Red's Untold Tale

↑Regina Rising, p. 239: "“It's a good thing you're beautiful, my darling girl, because you are no nightingale.“"

↑ 32.032.132.2Red's Untold Tale, 2015, p. 86: "Small woodland creatures— squirrels, mice, rabbits, and foxes— are running with me. Or at least I think they are. (...) A giant owl screeches as it shoots into the starless night sky."

↑Henry and Violet, ch. Eleven: "It was like traveling at night through the primordial wood in Camelot; there was only the path in front of you and darkness on all sides, except here there were no hooting owls or scurrying small animals."

↑Red's Untold Tale, p. 61: "Robins glided over our heads""Regina Rising, p. 98: "...I spotted the second ribbon. A robin must have swiped it, as it was woven into a nest high above our heads."

↑Red's Untold Tale, p. 116: "Not even a rodent scuttling, a bat's wings flapping, or a leaf rustling in the wind."

↑ 36.036.1(Looking at footprints) "That's a dog. See how small that is? (...) That…is a rabbit. What we're looking for will be huge. Like a dog print, but big." (Red Riding Hood, "Red-Handed)

↑Red's Untold Tale, p. 43: "Granny harrumphed. “It is what it is. Anyhow, if you could just do something with it. Toss it out— or better yet, feed it to Farmer Thompson's pigs.”"Regina Rising, p. 292: "Nonetheless, it was definitely a cage of some kind, plenty big enough to hold a goat,
a pig, or a large dog."

↑ 55.055.155.2Red's Untold Tale, p. 224: "I stopped to drink from a spring and explore a cave, and that’s where I found a patch of bilberry shrubs. Only I didn’t know them to be any different from blueberries, at the time."

↑Regina Rising, p. 46: "I pointed to the small patch of leafless elms that bordered the stables."

↑ 72.072.1Red's Untold Tale, p. 20: "Before the oak tree had grown tall and strong enough to support the rope swing I’d spent countless hours on." (...)"...it had been years since Granny had (…) trimmed back the ferns that covered the stone path leading to the front door(...)"

↑Regina Rising, p. 62: "We pushed through some particularly large ferns and finally caught our first glimpse of the Woman's home."

↑Red's Untold Tale, pp. 36 − 37: "Named after the forget-me-not flowers that grew on the edges of the forest, it was supposed to help everybody remember their childhoods as they moved on into their adult lives."

↑Regina Rising, p. 18: "My mother slid the orchids out of the way, leaving the vase teetering on the edge of the table."

↑ 84.084.184.284.384.4Red's Untold Tale, p. 216: "“It’s too early in the season for peaches. But I have rhubarb, your second favorite,” I offered, and thankfully, it was enough to get the cranky bachelor to open the door."

↑ 85.085.185.285.3Red's Untold Tale, p. 175: "“It looks like someone drank her mead,” I teased, speaking of the local tradition where newlyweds become fertile after downing the honey liquor for a month. “I want to hug you, but I’m afraid I might crush that adorable baby of yours,” I said. “He is rather tiny.” It was hard to believe such a little peanut would someday grow into a full-sized man."

↑ 90.090.1"Red's Untold Tale, p. 69: "I watched helplessly and wordlessly as she smashed into the cake like a hammer to a pumpkin. (...) “I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Red, but this cake of yours? It’s even more horrid than the stone soup they force down our throats at school.”"

↑Regina Rising, p. 177: "Her father, my grandfather, had been a miller. In his day, she'd told me, he'd run a simple yet successful business milling wheat into flour and delivering it not only to the villagers, but to King Xavier himself."

↑ 110.0110.1Red's Untold Tale, p. 230: "Mama's making lamb stew for supper because my papa and I are going after the wolves.”"

↑ 111.0111.1111.2111.3Red's Untold Tale, p. 221: After baking and bundling up cookies, pies, buns, and dog biscuits for the next day’s deliveries (...) to mop up the last traces of vegetable stew with her biscuit (...)

↑Red's Untold Tale, p. 55: "I placed the mugs of cider on the table, careful to set the one with the pinch of poppy dust closest to her."

↑ 114.0114.1Regina Rising, p. 211: "“What is that”, I asked.Her rosy lips curved into a smirk, and her eyes glittered in the low light. “Cider.”"(...)"It smelled of apples, perhaps on the rotten side, and vinegar (...)"

↑ 124.0124.1124.2"Red's Untold Tale", p. 22: "All right, so croissants weren’t his favorite. “— as well as a variety of cookies and muffins,” I continued brightly. “You look like a muffin man to me. (…) For today’s special bargain price, you can have your choice of bran or blueber—”

↑Regina Rising, p. 17: "...the three of us had everything we could possibly need−including several spoonfuls of honey for our guest (...)"

↑Red's Untold Tale, p. 11: "Had I added a tablespoon of salt when I was supposed to use a teaspoon?"Regina Rising, p. 252: "“If I throw some salt on that slug, do you think he'll disappear?” I asked under my breath."

↑ 131.0131.1'Red's Untold Tale, p. 180: "Finally, I found (a cookie) and handed it to him with a smile. “Ah, oatmeal raisin. My personal favorite. You're very lucky I even have one left.”He scrunched his snotty little nose. “Do you have a sugar cookie?”“Sorry, I’m all out.”"

↑Red's Untold Tale, p. 20: "It had been years since the village children gathered by the fireplace while Granny read storybooks and baked more shortbread cookies than our little bellies could hold."

↑ 133.0133.1Red's Untold Tale, p. 23: "She had ordered a half-dozen crumpets and an apple pie for her family"